Art and Illustrations by Amy H. Robinson

This Painting Makes Me Uncomfortable

on July 12, 2012

There is something about this painting that has made me uncomfortable.

Not the typical artist discomfort stuff I hem and haw about. More like… well, the girl’s nude. This is one of the only paintings where at least part of it just came to me in a flash and actually came out exactly as planned. But it is different from most of my “feel good” kid stuff or abstract work. And after I first finished it, I kept her facing the wall for a time because I just didn’t know what to make of her. I mean I was proud of her, but …

I keep thinking to myself – where would anyone even hang this?

And so a while back I pictured this lush green room. Maybe a living room or maybe a bedroom. Lots of plants and dark paint on the wall. Dark purples and hot pinks in spots. Or a palette similar to the painting – with dark green and dark blue and pops of orange and yellow. And a lot of plants growing, tall ones, so that they may even partially obscure her nudity. (Or in plain language… cover that butt!) I tried going online to find the perfect room, but was not able to find it. These though, they seem like they could work. And it is about time I cleared them off of my desktop…

What do you think? Can you see it somewhere?

BTW I haven’t forgotten about posting more about Indigo, but this was where my head was at today.

Okay and I confess there is one more thing to describe about this. And it is the distinction that was pointed out to me years and years ago between “decorative” and “fine art.” And at the time the term “decorative” was demeaning… undervalued. I think after all these years with this idea in the back of my mind that I am just fine being decorative. Because honestly, unless I am going to show my work in galleries, what the heck will I do with my stuff if I do not want to decorate with it?